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Gordonsville, Virginia
April 22nd, 1862
My Dear Devoted Sallie,
Our whole command arrived here on the night of the 20th about ten o'clock after having made a forced march on the 19th of thirty-one miles through the rain with nothing to eat but raw meat and parched corn. You may think it incredible when I tell you that I fared sumptuously on parched corn and raw bacon and glad to get it. Talk of hardships. We have undergone the worse of them. We have now given up at least a fourth of Virginia and have orders to march tonight in the direction of Richmond. We will likely be in a severe engagement in a few days. I am poorly fitted for either a march or fight as I now have a fever on me [illegible] cold. I have not been dry until last night in [illegible] days, and it is very cold. I marched with my overcoat on, which you know is very heavy, and carried my blankets on my back. I do not tell you of these hardships my dear to give you trouble, but merely as an honest record of the campaign, for I bear up under these cheerfully. [Illegible] so many that suffer so much more than I do.
You [illegible] doubtless ere this heard of the Conscript Bill passed by Congress impressing us all in the service for two years. Thus you see I am into it anyhow. But don't you give yourself any trouble about it, my dear, as I will endeavor to bring things at right yet. I am now a candidate for lieutenant colonel of the Sixteenth Regiment, with fair prospects for election. How would you

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Copyright protected. Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce is required.

Gordonsville, Virginia
April 22nd, 1862
My Dear Devoted Sallie,
Our whole command arrived here on the night of the 20th about ten o'clock after having made a forced march on the 19th of thirty-one miles through the rain with nothing to eat but raw meat and parched corn. You may think it incredible when I tell you that I fared sumptuously on parched corn and raw bacon and glad to get it. Talk of hardships. We have undergone the worse of them. We have now given up at least a fourth of Virginia and have orders to march tonight in the direction of Richmond. We will likely be in a severe engagement in a few days. I am poorly fitted for either a march or fight as I now have a fever on me [illegible] cold. I have not been dry until last night in [illegible] days, and it is very cold. I marched with my overcoat on, which you know is very heavy, and carried my blankets on my back. I do not tell you of these hardships my dear to give you trouble, but merely as an honest record of the campaign, for I bear up under these cheerfully. [Illegible] so many that suffer so much more than I do.
You [illegible] doubtless ere this heard of the Conscript Bill passed by Congress impressing us all in the service for two years. Thus you see I am into it anyhow. But don't you give yourself any trouble about it, my dear, as I will endeavor to bring things at right yet. I am now a candidate for lieutenant colonel of the Sixteenth Regiment, with fair prospects for election. How would you